July 24, 2024, marked the grand opening of the new Jay’s and Webber Wildlife Education Center located close to Jay’s Sporting Goods in Clare. Stepping through the doorway to the museum is a bit of a breathtaking moment, I can assure you. The first thing to greet you are the full-sized mounts of two zebra stallions fighting, and from there on as you look around and move to each exhibit, you’ll encounter wildlife from all over the world being presented in their distinct habitat. The artwork adorning the walls to enhance each exhibit is nothing … Read More
Nature’s most amazing earth excavator
The old tongue-twister “how much wood can a woodchuck chuck” isn’t all that accurate because a woodchuck doesn’t chuck on any sort of wood, and in fact its name doesn’t relate to the woods at all. It got its official title from early English settlers who corrupted the Native American (Algonquian) name for this ground-dwelling rodent they called “wuchak”. Woodchucks actually prefer more open ground and due to the settlement process of this country that cleared forests to make way for agriculture, it would be to the woodchuck’s advantage. There is little doubt more woodchucks … Read More
Summertime plinking while dealing with the “red menacing horde “
Spring and summer this year have proven to be a tad interesting, not to mention challenging, due to an ongoing invasion by very prolific red squirrels around our home and outbuildings. Of course, our living in the woods, so to speak, tends to quantify matters. We had quite a number of both gray and fox squirrels around our home, which we always enjoyed watching, and then the little red squirrels began appearing, just a few at first, but recently had become epidemic in numbers with them everywhere. At first, I had a “live and let … Read More
Ladies Preparing To Take Aim
The largest demographic in the outdoors today is women and girls getting involved with every aspect, including hunting, fishing, shooting, archery and you name it. What was once thought of as being “men and boys only” outdoor endeavors are now definitely a thing of a bygone era. In the not too distant past, ladies had to adapt to outdoor clothing and gear primarily designed for men, but not so today. Outdoors related manufacturers, including clothing, firearms and archery tackle have taken a very serious look at the role women now play in the outdoors. I … Read More
The magical atmosphere of fishing during the “Dog Days” of summer
When July eases in, I automatically start longing to go wade-fishing on the nearby Upper Reaches of the Cass River, something I have been doing since childhood. Early July and all the way through the month of August represent what are known as the “Dog Days” of summer. I used to think this timeframe, typically featuring warm and sultry weather, was so named because the usual heat was hard on dogs. However, this is referring to a very bright star, named Sirius, which becomes visible during that timeframe as it arcs across the southern horizon … Read More
The Amazing Hummingbird Way of Life
Several years back, when my wife Ginny and I visited an Embera Indian village along a river in the Panama jungle during mid-March while on a side trip during a Caribbean cruise, we saw an amazing multitude of beautiful butterflies and dragonflies, as well as plenty of colorful hummingbirds, even involving many different species we had never seen before. Ginny purchased a delicate, wooden hummingbird that had been hand-carved by the Embera tribal leader, and this is because the hummingbird is a tiny migratory bird which is very dear to our hearts, and we look … Read More
Exploration Adventures in Yooper-land
There is a unique sense of entering an isolated, slower-paced and back-to-nature atmosphere after crossing the Mackinac bridge into the Upper Peninsula. At least that is the way it is with my wife, Ginny, and me. Our destination was Baraga, where the Michigan Outdoor Writers Association (MOWA) was holding its annual conference at the Baraga Lakeside Inn, which is located right on the shore of Lake Superior and offers great accommodation and food (the meals prepared by chef Doug Smith were outstanding). Baraga is located on Lake Superior near the southeast corner of the Keweenaw … Read More
Those Sudden Surprises In The Great Outdoors
Last summer, I was feeding my horses in an outside manger and a leaf of hay fell on the ground. I bent down to pick it up, and yellow jackets suddenly came swarming out from underneath the manger and began stinging the left side of my face. Well, folks, that will wake you right up! One even zapped me near my left eye. When I looked in the mirror the following morning with my right eye, it wasn’t a pretty sight at all. The left side of my face was swollen, the left eye sealed … Read More
Foul Weather Gobblers Can Be A Challenge
Walking into the Cass City DNR Field Office at 4:30 am just prior to going turkey hunting is always a delight for me, because ladies all clad in camouflage, will be having donuts and coffee while excitedly anticipating heading out with their mentors during the annual 2-day Becoming an Outdoors Woman (BOW) Turkey Hunting Workshop. I greeted the 2 ladies who I was going to mentor, Anna Bucholtz, and her 10-year-old daughter, Delilah and we were soon headed out in my Jeep to some private property I had permission to take them hunting on and … Read More
Autumn Olive – The Great Invasion
The ground my wife Ginny and I started with in 1976 to build our home, was a bare corn stubble field. Entailing 10 acres located at the back of my parents’ farm, a top priority was to establish wildlife covers wherever possible. Because the ground had been treated with herbicide, grass would not get a good start for another 3 years, but it could grow trees and shrubs in good form due to less competition from weeds. Evergreens were at the top of the list, as well as a highly recommended, berry-producing shrub called autumn … Read More